Online poker rooms line up to sign the big-name players to their brand. Up-and-coming poker stars are signed to sponsorship deals long before they are famous. The latest big signings come from Betfair. They signed up Annette Obrestad last February, and now have signed online sensation Sorel Mizzi (aka Imper1um). The Canadian Mizzi had a great year in 2007 and was excited to join the Betfair professional team.

“Overall 2007 was a great year for me and by joining Betfair Poker in 2008 I’m getting in with a team which not only has a great reputation but more importantly, it’s going places,” said Mizzi. “With Betfair backing us, I reckon Annette and I have more than enough firepower to take down a few of the big names in tournament poker.”

Betfair hopes to dominate the tournament poker scene over the next decade with these two players on board.

I’ve seen lots of players that pretend to be females online. These guys just post a shot of their girlfriend and then use a feminine name. I can’t see this being a big edge, but at the lower levels it could certainly save you a bet or two. If the picture of the girl is attractive enough, some players will take it easy on her during play. Many of these players posing as females will even flirt with other players, and pretend to be inexperienced.

Any table image you can present to opponents can be used to your advantage if you plan it out enough. Many male players tend to underrate female players, so they will have that advantage for awhile anyway. If some chick outplays me in a pot or two, you can bet that I’ll be playing her as hard as I play any other opponent.

If you want to win a thousand dollars online, you first have to find the best bonus for your buy-in. Go to a poker review site and get yourself some extra cash for buying in that particular room. How long it takes to win $1000 depends on how much you buy in for, but if you go on a good winning streak playing $5/$10 limit holdem, you can make a $1,000 in a few days.

You could go to an aggressive $2/$4 no-limit room and play really tight. If you get some cards and bust a couple of guys, you could make your $1,000 in one session. That would require having at least $200, preferably more, with which to play.

You could also chop your buy-in into a bunch of smaller multi-table tournament entries and hope that you go deep enough into one of them to win $1,000.

Most professional poker players spend the lion’s share of their playing time in live games. The big-name tournament players are famous because of the television coverage of their live play. Lots of these players play online, but it’s not like the live tournament scene. Most celebrity poker players are sponsored by an online poker site. They wear the site’s logo in live events and play on the site for periodic promotions or whenever they want to.

Full Tilt Poker has professionals Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson, John Juanda, Jennifer Harman, Phil Gordon, Erick Lindgren, Erik Seidel, Clonie Gowan, Andy Bloch, Mike Matusow, Gus Hansen and Allen Cunningham on their team.

PokerStars has Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem, Barry Greenstein, Isabelle Mercier, Daniel Negreanu, Tom McEvoy, Victor Ramdin, Vanessa Rouso, and Humberto Brenes.

UltimateBet sponsors professionals Phil Hellmuth, Antonio Esfandiari, Jim Worth, Devin Porter and Annie Duke.

Harvard Lawyer Charles Nelson is trying to get society to loosen up its legislation and opinion of the game of poker. Nelson argues that the game is a good learning tool for people to practice the skills of seeing things through other people’s point of view.

He has spoken out to loosen local Massachusetts regulations and has organized the Global Poker Strategic Thinking Society. The society is growing and has other university chapters already. Nelson wants to show that poker is a game of skill and not just chance. He’s also lobbying against the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act, trying to separate poker from the other games of chance.

The response has been the same as always. Opposition to Nelson’s argument has heard this before. The Rev. Richard McGowan, a Boston College professor and gambling expert, said “The industry is always trying to argue that these are games, not gambling.”

Poker Stars is the biggest online poker room in the world. They offer more action for more games than anywhere else. The frequent-player points program is very flexible and the gaming software is fast and interactive, with lots of good options. Cash-outs couldn’t be easier; all the cash-out options are there and they will even FedEx any cash-out over $1000 to your door in a couple of days.

Poker Stars has built its massive player base all by themselves and are not connected to a playing network. The games offered are Limit and No-Limit Texas Hold’em, as well as both Hi and Hi-Lo versions of Omaha and Seven-Card Stud. The site also offers No-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo games, H.O.R.S.E., H.O.S.E., 2-7 Triple Draw, Five-Card Draw and Razz.

Stats for the site show 14,400 ring game players and as many as 120,000 tournament players at peak times. They also offer the best tournament action online.

Since 2004, Full Tilt Poker has worked tirelessly at becoming a leader in the industry of online poker. With aggressive marketing techniques, like sponsoring more than 40 of poker’s top professionals, Full Tilt has the second-highest traffic volumes in the industry. Peak hours will have 9,200 ring game players and as many as 60,000 tournament players. The points shop is one of the best online and the poker room software is unique and innovative.

Action is offered in Pot-Limit, No-Limit and Fixed Limit betting structures. Available games include Texas Holdem, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, Seven-Card Stud, Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo, Five Card Draw and Razz. You can also find action for mixed games like H.O.R.S.E and H.O.S.E. Heads-up and short-handed games are also in abundance. Tournament action is top-notch with $5 million in weekly guaranteed events. Full Tilt also offers the best bonuses online today, giving depositors a $600 bonus.

1. Quads over top boat.
You – AA / Opponent – 88 / Board – A, 8, 8, 7, 2

2. Bigger flush than yours
You – Kd, Qd / Opponent  – Ad 10d / Board – 9d, 6d, 2d, Qh, 10h

3. Two flopped sets
You – K, K / Opponent – 9, 9 / Board – K, 9, 6, 2, A

4. Two pair over top pair
You – A, K / Opponent – Q, 9 / Board – A, Q, 9

5. Higher straight
You – A, 9 / Opponent 9, 10 / Board 6, 7, 8, 5, 2

6. Runner – runner
You – A, K / Opponent 6, 7 / Board A, Q, 4, 6, 7

7. Two-outer
You Q, Q / Opponent 6, 6 / Board 10, 9, 2, K, 6

8. Straight flush over Ace high flush
You – Ad, 10d / Opponent – 6c, 4c / Board – 2c, 3c, Ah, 8s, 5c

9. A set over two pair
You – 8, 8 / Opponent – K, J / Board - K, J, 8, 6, 2

10. Busted Aces
You – A, A / Opponent – Q, J / Board – K, 10, 4, 2, 9

Party Poker is no longer the biggest online poker room in the world, but it continues to be one of the best despite no longer accepting American action. The site is known for having great around-the-clock cash games and tournament action. The software is good and fast, but isn’t the flashiest available. The functionality of the software does offer features like deal making and very good hand-history access.

Party Poker runs lots of special events and tournament satellites, and they also have an excellent loyalty program for their regulars. Action is offered in Texas Holdem, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, Seven-Card Stud and Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo. Short-handed and heads-up action is available.  Limits vary between Fixed Limit, Pot Limit and No limit betting structures. Current volumes have 10,000 cash game players and 60,000 tournament players, at peak levels. Party Poker is still one of the world’s best poker sites.

It’s no secret that the aggression level is a little cranked up online compared to a live game. In any aggressive game, position is one of the most important factors.

Position is important in any poker game because last position holds the advantage of knowing what everyone in the hand is going to do before they have to act. If everyone folds to you and only the blinds remain, a raise will often allow you to win the blinds.

Last position holds another big edge because many flops miss the players in the hand. The button can pick up the pot with another timely bet. Aggressive players will often bet into you when you have position on them, and this allows you to slow play big hands undetected until you decide to turn the tables on them. Many online players will continually bet into you and you can just let them dump to you.